IBLOG SPACE

The third generation from the family of producer cum director Shankar Singh and famous actress of yesteryears Protima Devi, Rishika Singh is making her film debut opposite the muscular hero Vijay in ‘Kanteerava’ under the banner of Ramu Enterprises. Rishika Singh is the daughter of nationally acclaimed director S V Rajendra Singh Babu and sister of actor Aditya. Rishika’s aunt is the famous actress and director Vijayalakshmi Singh and uncle is the well known produce Jai Jagdeesh. Rishika’s original name is Rohini. It is in her name Rohini Enterprises several films were produced by the family before. A Fashion Designer from Mount Carmel College Rishika got trained in acting at Kishore Namith Kapoor School of acting in Mumbai for six months. The prestigious banner Ramu Enterprises is taking up ‘Kanteerava’ a remake of ‘Simhadri’ Telugu film in which Rishika plays the female lead. Tushar Ranganath will be directing this movie. Shubha Poonja is another heroine in ‘Kanteerava’

Anu Prabhakar is very choosy in her selection of roles. Anu, the daughter in law of ‘Abhinaya Sharade’ Jayanthi is in an off beat film ‘Parikshe’. Set in a village backdrop, ‘Parikshe’ is a clash between social orders in the village. The village chieftain’s atrocity on the protagonist Anu Prabakar and how she overcomes the sufferings when she is tagged as AIDS victim is what the film is about. Director Seetharam Karanth is back with this film after a long gap. Karanth has completed 14 days shoot for the film. B Patil produces this film under Gomatesh Films. Shashidhar Bhat has penned the dialogues, Hemanthkumar has scored the music. Veteran Geethapriya has penned lyrics. R Manjunath is the cameraman. Vinaykumar, Muni, Siddaraj Kalyankar, Shanthamma, Master Kiran and Enagi Balappa play other roles.

The two times state award winning talented actress of Kannada cinema Bhavana is in to Event Management and Home Production house. Bhavana settled down with her brother in Mumbai after not getting good roles in Kannada. Later she did a Hindi film ‘Family’ a few years ago in which she played daughter to Amitabh Bachchan. With an experience of over 10 years in Kannada entertainment, Bhavana has started the production house with her brother Aravind Ramana and is organizing Bharathanatyam and folk dance programs. The main objective of Bhavana home production is to spread the art and culture to the youths especially in the nook and corner and bridge the gap between generations. Bhavana’s brother has worked as art director in films like ‘Jodha Akbar’ and ‘Drona’ in Hindi. As of now Bhavana is up to a television serial ‘Aavarana’. Srinath, Ramesh Bhat, Rekha Rao are in the cast of this weekly episode. Besides doing the designing, she is doing the PR and marketing for television s

The winner of multiple international awards ‘Mukhaputa’ (The Cover Page) depicting the challenges of young children growing with HIV by India Classic Arts USA production is hitting the theatres on this Friday. The film is produced by Prof Narayan S. Hosmane, a distinguished research professor in bio chemistry and his brother Subraya Hosmane, a cancer researcher living in Northern Illinois and Roopa Iyer. The film is directed by Roopa Iyer. The film set in a small town in South India is about a socially responsible educationally oriented traditional woman adapts a young baby girl, and realizes after several years that the child had HIV at birth. The story is centered around the child, and a few of her underprivileged friends of the same age. It depicts the challenges faced by the girl, her family and the society and showcases pre-conceived notions that society infers on patients with HIV, and how children and their family are coping up with life.

We have earlier reported that Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan will play a meaty role in Malayalam superstar Mohanlal's forthcoming Kandahar (Malayalam) directed by Major Ravi, which revolves around a plane hijacking. Now the latest buzz is that Naadodigal girl Ananya has bagged a role in this film. It is also said that the actress will begin shooting for this film after completing her current commitments, including Dhanush's upcoming Seedan. Reports claim that Amitabh will be seen as the father of a passenger on the ill-fated plane that was hijacked and Mohanlal will play a commando. The film is inspired by the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999 by five Pakistani militants while on its way from Kathmandu to New Delhi on Christmas eve. It was forced to land in three different airports -- Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai -- before spending a week on the tarmac in Kandahar with 186 hostages on board. Kandahar will be shot in Delhi, Nepal and Kerala.

Recently a section of the media reported that the stylish director Gautham Menon's upcoming venture Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa will have two climaxes: one tragic and another happy. They also report that the director will decide on final the ending after seeing the initial feedback from the audience. However, there is no official confirmation on this news yet. VTV, a Tamil-Telugu bilingual is titled Yemaya Chesave in Telugu with Naga Chaitanya and Samantha as the lead pair. Both versions are set to grace theatres on February 26. Does VTV have two climaxes? Does the Telugu version also have double climax? Watch out for the film. VTV, a romantic musical starring Trisha and Simbu, revolves around the love between an aspiring film maker Karthik, who wants to make it big in his profession, and a Christian girl Jessie. Music by A.R. Rahman is already rocking the charts. Kollywood enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting VTV for its hype, breezy posters and chartbuster songs. Udayanidhi

Oscar and Grammy Award winning composer A.R. Rahman, along with writer Abbas Tyrewalla, singer Naresh Iyer, lyricist Raqeeb Alam and their family members, visited Ameen Peer Dargah in Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh) on Monday midnight and offered prayers. Their visit coincided with the Hazrath Khwaja Syed Sha Ameenullah Hussaini Urs, which commenced late on Monday night. Rahman's wife Saira Banu, mother Mallika, sister Fathima and brother-in-law Talat accompanied the composer. They stayed in the Pedda Dargah from midnight to about 4.45 a.m. The film personalities reached the Dargah, popularly known as 'Pedda Dargah' around midnight. The celebrities presented a flower chaddar on Ameenullah Malik's tomb and offered prayers. They took the blessings of Dargah's 11th Sajjad-e-Nasheen Hazrath Khwaja Syed Sha Arifullah Mohammed Mohammed-ul Huissaini Quadri. The Sajjad-e-Nasheen took them round the Dargah and explained about its religious and historical background.

Recently, we reported that Jiiva, who recently replaced Simbu in K.V. Anand's Ko, was denied a visa by the Chinese government. The team was planning for a shooting schedule in Northern China-Mongolia border. When the entire team applied for Chinese visas, lead actor Jiiva alone was denied a visa for the second time. Now the latest buzz is that the crew has already left to the Northern China-Mongolia border and the director has decided to shoot some parts of the song featuring the heroine Karthika alone with cameraman Richard Nathan and choreographer Gayatri Raguram. The other parts featuring the hero will be shot later, according to sources. So why was Jiiva denied a Chinese visa? Sources say that the actor has applied for a short term visa while the other members were on a work visa and as per the rules, a short term visa is issued directly from Beijing, so it will take some time to be issued. However other sources has a different story to tell. According to them, s

Remake king M. Raja's upcoming film Thillalangadi is almost complete and the director is reportedly happy with the outcome. An energetic entertainer with many twists and suspenses, Thillalangadi is produced by Ravi's father Editor Mohan. Thillalangadi is a remake of the super hit Telugu movie Kick. Jayam Ravi and Tamannaah plays the lead roles and Shaam reprises his role from the original. Ravi has returned to his chocolate boy look after donning an action hero's look in Peranmai. This is Ravi's first film after his marriage. Prabhu and Suhasini play pivotal roles. Vadivelu provides comic relief. Music is scored by Yuvanshankar Raja.

Though actress Asin is running out of offers in Bollywood after her second film London Dreams bombed at the box office, Kollywood is ready to welcome her again. If sources are to believed, many big projects are waiting for the lady's green signal. Some of them include the Tamil remake of Malayalam flick Bodyguard with Vijay, A.R. Murugadoss' upcoming venture with Suriya, Simbu's Vaaliban and finally her Tamil menor Jayam Raja's (who introduced Asin to Tamil with M. Kumaran s/o Mahalakshmi) upcoming film with Vijay. There are also rumours that Asin has been offered the Hindi remake of Kaakha Kaakha opposite handsome John Abhraham to be directed by Gautham Menon. Asin started her film career with Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in Malayalam, but it was Amma Naana Oka Tamil Amaayi, her first film in Telugu, that made her a household name. Soon, Kollywood beckoned. It remade Amma Naana into M. Kumaran s/o Mahalakshmi; Asin reprised her role convincingly and w

Choreographer turned director Prabhu Deva is all set to display a new avatar, this time as a dance guru. The dancer has reportedly plans to open a dance school named Navarasa in Bangalore, California in the US and Malaysia. There are also reports that the choreographer is finalizing the logo for his new dance shool. Meanwhile, he is currently busy with the script work for his upcoming Tamil film Ich starring Jayam Ravi and Hansika Matwani.

Popular young Telugu actor Allari Naresh, son of Telugu veteran director and producer E.V.V. Satyanarayana, will marry popular actress Gajala, who has appeared in more than 25 films in all South Indian languages. According to sources, Allari Naresh and Gajala met on the sets of their super hit Thotti Gang (2002) and fell in love while doing Rambabu Gadi Pellam, their second film by director Kapuganti Rajendra. This semi-romantic comedy will hit screens on February 26. The couple were recently spotted together at a night club in Hyderabad on Valentine's Day and according to sources, their relationship is accepted by their parents after some initial resistance. The wedding date is yet to be finalized. Gajala's notable films include Student No. 1 and Allari Ramudu opposite Jr. NTR, Ezhumalai and Durai opposite Arjun, Raam opposite Jiiva, The Speed Track opposite Dileep and Raman Thediya Seethai opposite Cheran.

Chennai singers are all set to pay tribute to the Oscar winning musician A.R. Rahman, who has recently also garnered two prestigious Grammy awards. Well known singers including Benny Dayal, Srinivas, Suresh Peters, Naresh Iyer, Haricharan, Swetha Menon, Sujatha and Suvi Suresh will come together to perform many sizzling numbers which they originally sang for Rahman. The three-hour show, titled 'Rahmania', will be held on February 28 at the Wesley High School grounds in Royapettah. The proceeds from the show would go towards providing facilities for children of V-Excel Educational Trust, a centre that offers educational opportunities for children with autism, dyslexia and mental retardation.

Director Shakti S. Rajan's recent Tamil thriller Naanayam, produced by popular playback singer S.P. Balasubramanyam's son S.P.B. Charan under the banner of Capital Film Works, is being dubbed in Telugu as Padmavyuham. Starring Prasanna as the protagonist, Sibiraj as the antagonist, and singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam in a pivotal role, the Telugu version will be released in the first week of March. The Tamil version was released on January 14. The film revolves around Ravi (Prasanna), an ambitious youngster who wants to run his own business and become an entrepreneur. He bravely saves Vishwanath (S.P. Balasubramanyam), CEO of the most reputed Trust Bank, from a masked thief who tries to rob him. After a short conversation, Vishwanath, impressed with Ravi, offers him a job at his bank. A few months later, Vishwanath approves Ravi's project to make Trust Bank the safest bank for customers and Ravi, in a few months, implements a security system, said to be foolproof.

Shivarajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar, sons of late Kannada star Rajkumar, left for a pilgrimage to Sabarimalai in Kerala on Monday. They are accompanied by 37 members, including director Raghuram of Cheluveye Ninne Nodalu, actor Tarun Sudhir and Suvarna Tarun. A religious function was held at the residence of Shivarajkumar in the morning.

Allu Arjun-Gunasekhar-D.V.V. Danayya team's new action-based, emotional, romantic, comedy film Varudu, produced under the banner of Universal Media, has completed its entire shooting execept a song, which is scheduled to be shot during the first week of March. According to the makers, they are taking efforts to release the audio in February itself and the film on March 26 in Telugu and Malayalam simultaneously. Director Gunasekhar said that Allu Arjun will be seen in a role that he never played before. A new heroine is making her debut, but her name is yet to be revealed. Renowned director Singeetham Sreenivas Rao appears in a special role. Tamil hero Arya plays the villain. The climax fight between Allu Arjun and Arya was recently shot in 15 days. Others in the cast are Suhasini, Naresh, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sayaji Shinde, Ahuthi Prasad, Brahmanandam, Brahmaji and Vinaya Prasad. Music is by Mani Sharma. Lyrics are penned by Veturi and editing is by Srikar Prasad. R.D. Raj

After playing a housemaid Thulasi opposite Srinivasan (Dhanush) in the much-acclaimed offbeat Tamil film Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam (2005), National award winning Priyamani will once again team up with director Balu Mahendra in his new Tamil film to be produced by an NRI Sri Lankan. If Balu Mahendra's Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam had Priyamani portraying the role of a girl next door, his new film will have her in a glamorous role, it is heard. This yet-to-be-titled film will introduce a new face as the hero. Cinematography will be handled by Anwar, a gold medalist from the Pune Film Institute. Music is by Balu Mahendra's favourite Ilayaraja. This film is expected to start rolling in November 2010. Priyamani is currently busy with five films: ace Mani Ratnam's Tamil and Hindi versions of Raavan, Master (Malayalam), Saadhyam (Telugu) and Eno Onthara (Kannada). Her recent releases are Raam (Kannada) and Shambo Shiva Shambo (Telugu).

Ever since Gemini Film Circuit bought the Telugu and Tamil remake rights of 3 Idiots from Vidhu Vinod Chopra, there is widespread anticipation about the lead roles. In Kollywood, rumours suggest that actor Vijay will play the role of Aamir Khan in the Tamil version. Madhavan has already made it clear that he is open to reprise his role in Tamil as well. There are rumours that the Billa director Vishnuvardhan will direct the Tamil version. Sources add that the director will make some changes in the script to suit the tastes of Tamil audiences. Suriya was rumoured to reprise Aamir Khan's role, but sources close to him say he may not do the role as he has no free dates in the near future. 3 Idiots is the highest grossing Hindi film in Tamil Nadu, where it has managed to gross a record Rs. 1.65 crore from 22 screens in its very first week. National wide, the film is said to have grossed about Rs. 240 crore in just 10 days.

The web has become a prime vector of attack favoured by financially motivated hackers looking to get their hands on sensitive or confidential information flowing across the internet. To better defend against attacks, it makes sense to move security protections to where the threats are coming from-in the cloud. http://whitepapers.zdnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=1503957

Desktop application viewer for Mac video tutorials with international subtitles.All iLife (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iDVD, iWeb), iWork (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) and iTunes available with English and Italian and some Japanese subtitles. More languages with YouTube machine translation. http://downloads.zdnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=1503933

Hydra uses a number of regular photographs (up to four) with different exposures (darker and lighter) to create a superior one which is much closer to what one's eye can see. This is because a single photograph cannot represent the full gamut of light because of physical limitations in the sensor. This process is also known as a high dynamic range, or HDR, imaging. See the screencast tutorials for more information on how to acquire such images with your camera. The output produced by Hydra is much closer to what your eye actually sees. You don't have to choose whether to have a beautiful sky or buildings, take 2 photos (or more) with perfect parameters for each of them, then combine them with Hydra. The images that Hydra uses are not required to be taken with a tripod, as it is usually the case with HDR software. Hydra uses the same warping algorithm as Morph Age, which permits the alignment of images with offsets above a few pixels. This is a unique feature that means you can

apple.com.myBlogEdit is an easy-to-use weblog editor focusing on the most important functions for blogger with easy to use features and a clean user interface. Why should you hinder yourself by using the slow and hard-to-use webinterface WordPress comes with, if you could do it with style and comfort of a real Mac application. myBlogEdit gives you the freedom to work on your articles offline - whenever and wherever you want. With myBlogEdit it's so easy to integrate pictures, without using a special application or thinking about the correct HTML code. You can customize myBlogEdit to fit perfectly your needs and preferences. myBlogEdit supports all major weblog engines like WordPress, TypePad, MovableType, ExpressionEngine and compatible... myBlogEdit supports multiple accounts, has an integrated fast media/file manger with file preview and one of the best features is the smooth resizing, formatting and uploading of images with just one single click - so in most cases there is no ne

Last week, Intel began shipping a new RISC processor based on its 65 nm manufacturing process. Though it will not start showing up in the market for up to 90 days, it is a significant upgrade over its Itanium predecessor; it sports four cores and eight threads per core and operates best with DDR3 memory. Formerly dubbed Tukwila, the Itanium 9300 processor uses a socket design that will remain unchanged for upcoming Itanium versions, including one code-named Poulson that will be manufactured using Intel’s new 32 nm manufacturing process. Intel’s new offering was announced on the same day that IBM announced the release of its new Power7 chip , which is destined for a higher-end market. Intel has been experiencing growth in its server processor sales lately , and some of this growth appears to be due to the slow but steady increase in cloud computing . Companies with large data centers like those common to cloud vendors continually upgrade servers to improve their levels of servi

Those of us who live in the digital world are tethered with a permanent IV to a set of communications providers, many of which do not have a strong reputation for customer service. I hear complaints all the time from people who are fed up with their ISP, wireless carrier, or phone company and wish they had better options. On Tuesday, Ryan Block, co-founder of gdgt , posted on Twitter: “Let’s amend that old saying: The only things certain in life are death, taxes, and dissatisfaction with one’s carrier or ISP.” It’s one thing when your service goes out and you can’t get online or can’t get a good cellular signal. People are always going to be upset when they have a service outage. What makes it much worse is that, all too often, communications companies show little sense of urgency or responsibility for outages and customer problems. In addition to outages, communcations companies also draw the ire of customers by locking people into long-term contracts, hitting people with hidden

After a gap of more than one year, National award winning actress Meera Jasmine, popularly known as a homely heroine, is finally back to Malayalam. During her this period, she has done four Telugu films (Gorintaku, Maa Ayana Chanti Pilladu, Bangaru Babu and A Aa E Ee), Mariyadhai (Tamil) and Devaru Kotta Thangi (Kannada). While talking about her return to Malayalam with the ongoing Paattinte Palazhi being directed by Rajeev Anchal, the actress said that acting in Malayalam films is like preparing for the final Board exams. Why? She feels that as compared to other industries, Malayalam films require a great deal of preparation. You definitely need elaborate preparation before attempting a character in Malayalam. I am not much bothered about preparations while doing other language films, but coming to Malayalam, I cannot take things for granted, said Meera in an interview. Meera Jasmine, who was last seen in Rathri Mazha (2008) and Minnaminnikkoottam (2008), has pinned her hopes on Paatt

After playing some interesting roles in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films like Nammal (for which she won Asianet Film Award for the best supporting actress), Daivanamathil (Kerala Film Award for the second best actress) and Chithiram Pesuthadi (Tamil Filmfare Award for the best actress), Bhavana is all set to debut in Sandalwood. Bhavana will be Kannada superstar Puneet Rajkumar's heroine in his upcoming commercial entertainer Jackie, to be directed by Suri. Duniya and Junglee fame Suri said he was looking for an innocent face for Jackie. After seeing Bhavana in Chithiram Pesuthadi, he was impressed with her brilliant performance and thought that she would fit the bill, he added. V. Harikrishna is scoring music. Satya Hegde will crank the camera and Shashidhar Adappa is the art director. More details are awaited. Meanwhile, sources close to Bhavana's family revealed that the actress will soon enter wedlock with her parents seriously seeking a suitable alliance for her. It is sa

Selvaraghavan's epic adventure Aayirathil Oruvan has become quite the rage in Tollywood. Dubbed in Telugu with the title Yuganiki Okkadu, the movie has made quite a splash in Tollywood. Selva is not a stranger there. His movies 7G Rainbow Colony and Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule were rocking successes with audiences in Andhra Pradesh, and now, Aayirathil Oruvan follows suit. We are also told that since Aayirathil Oruvan is such a hit, its hero Karthi is a hit too. Hence it is quite likely that his 2007 super hit Tamil movie Paruthiveeran will also be dubbed and released in Telugu. The latest buzz is that the actor has decided to dub for his character in the Telugu version of Paruthiveeran titled Palnati Veerudu. Since he wants the Telugu version also to create a great impact, he is doing all that he can to make it perfect. The actor has reportedly learned the nuances of Telugu pronunciation before the dubbing process to ensure that his linguistic skills are excellent.

After tasting success in Malai Malai, the Arun Vijay-Venkatesh duo is back with Maanja Velu. The director-actor team has reportedly wrapped up the shooting of Maanja Velu and moved on to post production in Malaysia. Meanwhile, Arun Vijay's fondness for Lord Muruga has made him inscribe a tattoo of the Lord on his back, below the neck. There are also reports that film also has many scenes where the hero express his faith towards the Lord. Maanja Velu is also an action movie. 'Maanja' is the mixture of glass powder and other stuff pasted on the string of a kite. It is used to cut the strings of rival kites, but if handled wrongly, it can cut you. This forms the basic plot. Prabhu, Karthik, Ganja Karuppu, Santhanam and others form the supporting cast. Mani Sharma has scored the music for Maanja Velu, which is expected to release in February.

After earning an awesome opening for Thala Ajith's recent release Aasal, actor-producer Prabhu now wants to do another film with Ajith. Reports suggest that Sivaji Productions has expressed their interest to produce another Ajith movie and the actor has reponded postively. Meanwhile, Ajith is getting ready for his 50th film with ace director Gautham Menon. Produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri, the film is believed to be a police story. Ajith has played a cop in Anjaneya, but the film was not too successful, so we hope it's time Ajith tastes success in a thrilling cop story. Sources close to the actor say that Aasal heroine Sameera Reddy will again team up with Thala for this venture. There are also reports that the film is based on a sensational criminal case in 1980 and Ajith will don the role of the investigating officer. This film will have one more highlight: music by the Mozart of Madras, A.R. Rahman. The Rahman-Gautham duo has already come together in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa,

He came in style to sweep away the hearts of many; we know him as a actor, a car racer and a crazy fan of aeromodelling. But here, we bring you the newest avatar of actor Ajith. The stylish actor is working for a pilot license now. On Sunday, his fans went crazy at the Madras Motor Race Track near Chennai where the actor participated in the MRF Formula 1600 International Challenge series. Reportedly, the actor is planning to obtain his flying license soon. In a leading English daily, he was quoted as saying, "I'm already into aeromodelling. They say that people into aeromodelling are already half pilots; it is just that we aren't sitting inside a plane. I'm hopeful of getting my private pilot driver license by June next year."

Suriya's Singam is expected to hit screens for Tamil New Year 2010. Suriya's success spree is likely to continue with the Hari-directed Singam. Meanwhile, the team has set another landmark even before its release. Reportedly the Singam crew which went to Dubai for shooting songs, surprised everyone by completing two songs in just seven days. Generally it takes 15-20 days to shoot two songs. According to Hari, Singam will have all the elements, including comedy, action and romance, that any Suriya fan would expect. Singam, Suriya's 25th film, is produced by Studio Green's Gnanavel Raja. The film's music has been scored by Devi Sri Prasad. The story of Singam reportedly revolves around smuggling activities taking place in Rameswaram. Suriya plays a cop after a long time (remember Khaaka Khaaka?) and the film will have all the required ingredients to keep audiences engaged without a lag in narration. Singam also has Anushka and Prakashraj in important roles. Vivek has

Raam, featuring Puneet Rajkumar and Priyamani (her debut Kannada film), has completed 50 days in 25 centres and in 65 centres at an average of four shows a day. Earlier, the much-hyped movie earned over Rs. 20 crores in 50 days. Raam, remake of the Telugu movie Ready, has been directed by K. Madesh of Gaja fame. Besides direction, he has also penned the story and screenplay. Raam has K. Krishnakumar's camera work and V. Harikrishna's music. The cast includes Rangayan Raghu, Sadhu Kokila, Shrinath, Sangeetha, Chitra Shenoy and many others.

Reports suggest that Boss Engira Bhaskaran, starring Arya and Nayantara in the lead roles will be a full-length comedy entertainer to tickle the funny bones of audiences. Guess who will entertain you this time? None other than the glamorous Nayantara. Reportedly, the actress is playing a bubbly girl who has an immense sense of humour. Sources also reveal that the film's shooting is in fast progress and it will grace theatres by June. Directed by Rajesh of Siva Manasula Sakthi fame, Yuvanshankar Raja has created the

Bollywood hottie Sameera Reddy is literally on cloud nine here down South with her tantalizing performance as Meghna in Gautham Menon's Vaaranam Aayiram and Sarah in Ultimate star Ajith's Aasal. After winning rave reviews for both these films, Sameera is now busy with her third Tamil film being directed by Gautham Menon yet again. The actress has now almost completed her portions. According to the sources, Sameera dons the challenging role of a sex worker and her overnight encounter with a stranger. This untitled film is said to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller with actress Maheshwari's brother Satish in the lead role. It is rumoured that the director has decided to avoid songs and complete the film in a duration less than 90 minutes. Meanwhile, marking her debut in Malayalam, Sameera Reddy will soon be seen opposite Malayalam superstar Mohanlal in Oru Naal Varum, scripted by veteran actor-director Sreenivasan and directed by T.K. Rajeev Kumar. She plays the role of Mohanlal

The Mozart of Madras A.R. Rahman will team up with ace Canadian singer Celine Dion of Titanic, 'My Heart Will Go On' fame for an international album. Reportedly, the Oscar winning musician will compose two songs that will be sung by Celine Dion on her US tour beginning March 15. Sources say the Canadian singer was impressed with Rahman's dedication at the remake of the Michael Jackson single 'We Are The World' to raise money for Haiti victims and therefore spoke to him about the new venture. Recently, the musical genius brought honour to India by also bagging two prestigious Grammy awards.

After making his presence felt in Malayalam with the much-acclaimed Kala Pani (1996), Malayalimamanu Vanakkam (2002) and War & Love (2003), popular Tamil actor-producer Prabhu, son of legendary Tamil thespian Sivaji Ganesan, will do a cameo in Malayalam superstar Mammootty's new film Pramani, being directed by B. Unnikrishnan. The actor was recently in Kochi for the shooting of his portions. In this film, Mammootty plays the role of Viswanatha Paniker, a corrupt Panchayat President. Reigning Sneha is the heroine. After Thuruppu Gulan and forthcoming Vandemataram, this is the third film in which Sneha is pairing with Mammootty. She plays a Panchayat Secretary who accidentally starts playing a crucial role in the life of Viswanatha Paniker. Director Fazil's son Fahad Fazil plays a very important role. Pramani is scheduled to release on March 19.

Popular TV anchor-turned-actress Swathi, who shot to fame with Subramaniapuram (for which she was nominated for the Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award), followed by Ashta Chamma (for which she won the Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award and Nandi Award for the Best Actress), is all set to make her debut in Kannada. Swathi will reportedly be seen opposite Shivrajkumar in director Chandru's untitled Kannada film. The director has confirmed that he has approached Swathi. I have approached Swathi. But the dates are yet to be finalized. Since Swathi is now doing a Tamil film with Vikram, she does not want a clash of dates. But I am confident this issue can be sorted out, he added. Sources say this film, tentatively titled Mylari, will be produced by Kananapura Sreenivas, who had earlier made successful films like Yuvaraja and Santha with Shivarajkumar. Guru Kiran is the music director.

Director P.A. Arun Prasad's Yagam, which brings together Navdeep, Bhumika and Kim Sharma for the first time in Tollywood, has completed its post production work. The censoring formalities will be held soon. A romantic action entertainer, Yagam will grace screens by the end of this month. Produced by Raju and Praveen under the banner of Silver Screen, Yagam has Bhumika playing the role of an air-hostess, who meets Navdeep and Kim while working in a bar. The movie revolves around their relationship and the drama which follows. Music is by Mani Sharma, cinematography by Bharani K. Dharani, lyrics by Anant Sriram and choreography by Kalyan.

Tollywood's charming beauty Charmi's much-awaited Telugu film Indu, directed by popular Tamil director P. Vasu of Chandramukhi fame and produced by Murarisetty Lakshman under the banner of BBS Studio, is ready for release. Some sources say the film is likely to hit screens on February 26. A message-oriented film for parents, the film revolves around a college girl. The makers recently released the audio directly into the market and are planning to hold its Platinum Disc function this week. Expected to hit screens in Tamil too, Indu is presented by Thailam Srinaga Varma. Vidya Sagar has scored the music and cinematography is handled by Kesavan. Action is by Peter Haynes, while story, screenplay and direction are by P. Vasu. Bala and Kalabhavan Mani are playing prominent roles.

Asin may have lost her way in Bollywood. But Kollywood still longs to take her back. After not getting any big offers after her second Hindi film ‘London Dreams’ with Salman Khan sinking at the box office, Asin is again looking back at Kollywood. In spite of her Bollywood sojourn, Asin is still the most wanted girl in south. Now the news is abuzz that quite a few big projects are lined up for Asin, waiting for her approval. We already reported that Asin will play the lead opposite Vijay in the Tamil remake of Siddique’s Malayalam flick ‘Bodyguard’. Nayantara was the heroine in Malayalam original. This will start in March. Another project waiting for her to take is her ‘Ghajini’ director A R Murgadoss’ next film for Red Giant Movies which will have Suriya in the lead. Rumours also float saying Silambarasan had a meeting with Asin in Mumbai trying to convince her for his pet project ‘Vaaliban’. Another big one is ‘Jayam’ Raja’s proposed film with Vijay. ‘Jayam’ Raja is the one who i

Goutham Menon, the brilliant director who has given us hits consistently is taking the gamble. Puzzled? Read on… Goutham Menon is a true flexible director. Its heard that his much awaited movie ‘Vinnaithandi Varuvaya’ has two endings. Depending on the feedback from the audience during the initial one or two weeks, the director will decide the climax of the movie. The movie is about inter-religious love between the hero and the heroine. Sources reveal that the movie will have one tragic climax and another happy. Goutham's climax have always received appreciation. From 'Minnale' to 'Varanam Aayiram' he has made a definite style in his movies. His Fans in the past have commented on climax of his action movie ‘Khaaka Khaaka’, where the heroine is shown dead. We will have to wait and watch how he gambles this time.

Another star son is making foray into films. Veteran actor Radha Ravi is introducing his son M R Hari to the films. Surprisingly M R Hari Radha Ravi is getting introduced as a villain in his first film. Why a villain? Radha Ravi says his is a family of villains. But he has a good foresight we would say. He has planned for a longer lifespan for his son in films. M R Hari Radha Ravi’s first film ‘Thirumanthiram’ will be launched in the tourist spot of Courtallam on February 25. The film will be produced by Radha Ravi and directed by debutant Sibi. Radha Ravi’s best friends in the industry including Rama Narayanan and Sarath Kumar will be in Courtallam personally to welcome the new hero. Seems it’s a season of family endeavours. We wish all of them good luck.

Getting impressed by Ajith more and more is Prabhu. The veteran actor, who admired ‘Thala’ on the sets of ‘Billa’, wanted to produce a film with him and the end-product was ‘Asal’, which hit theatres recently. Awestruck by the grand opening of ‘Asal’, Prabhu now wants to produce another movie with the same Ajith in the lead role. It is said the younger son of thespian Sivaji Ganesan has expressed this interest of him to Ajith for which the latter too responded positively. “However, Ajith is at present gearing up for his 50th film, which would be directed by Goutham Vasudev Menon and produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri. So his 51st venture may be with Prabhu for all probability,” sources say. Meanwhile, Sivaji Productions, the producers of ‘Asal’, are promoting their venture in a big way. They have announced a contest, through which those watching the Ajith starrer could win gold coins by answering a question and producing a copy of the movie ticket.

The choreographer in Prabhu Deva is back. He is planning to start his own dance school. After turning director, Prabhu Deva didn’t seem to concentrate on dance but now in spite of working on the script for his next movie ‘Ich’ starring ‘Jayam’ Ravi, he is planning to set up his own international dance school. The international dance school will be named ‘Navarasa’ and will be set up in Bangalore in India, California in the US and Malaysia. It is said that Prabhu Deva is looking at so many logos for his school. Sources say that it is his ambition of setting up an international dance school. Way to go Prabhu Deva!

Director M Raja has almost completed ‘Thillalangadi’. “I am happy about the output. The film is an energetic entertainer which would keep the audience engaged right from the beginning till end,” he says. The elder son of producer ‘Editor’ Mohan says, “Jayam Ravi and Tamannah have given their best. Though the film is a remake of Telugu blockbuster ‘Kick’, it would suit well to the taste of Tamil people.” “Shaam is doing a parallel role, while Vadivelu does a full- length comedy role. We shot non-stop for 30 days in Malaysia. Interestingly our earlier venture ‘M Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi’ too was shot in the same place a few years ago. We shot some important scenes in Chennai, and some in Europe.” Ravi, thrilled at being part of the project, says, “Unlike my last ‘Peranmai’, ‘Thillalangadi’ is a commercial entertainer. It is loaded with comedy and is lively all through. I am happy to work with my brother Raja again, who shaped up my career.”

When K V Anand announced the departure of his ‘Ko’ team to China every body thought all the starting troubles for the film are over and K V Anand will complete his quickie in record time. But when the Chinese Embassy refused visa to Jeeva, the ‘Ko’ team was shocked. The unit had already left to northeast China, near Mongolian border to shoot by then. When every body was trying to find the reason for the refusal of visa to Jeeva, the team in China went ahead to shoot some scenes as planned and returned. Parts of the song featuring the heroine Karthika was completed by cameraman Richard Nathan and choreographer Gayatri Raguram. So why was Jeeva denied the visa? K V Anand says the producer applied for a short-term visa for Jeeva as he came in at the last minute into the project while others were going on a work visa. Chinese Embassy had apparently told him short-term visa had to be issued by Beijing directly and it would take time as it was the New Year season there. Another reason acc

No offence to his fans but we have news about ‘Ilaya Thalapathi’ Vijay. Sources say that Vijay has expressed his interest in acting in the Tamil remake of the Hindi blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’ starring Aamir Khan. Vijay has apparently shown much interest in the remake in Tamil, which will be directed by ‘Billa’ director Vishnuvardhan. Sources say that Vijay would do Aamir's role in the movie. Vishnu has been having a bad outing ever since his ‘Sarvam’ starring Arya and Trisha bombed at the box office. He would hope to revive his record with the remake of ‘3 Idiots’. Sources say that Vishnu will modify the subject according to tastes of the Tamil audience. Sources reveal that the Tamil remake rights of ‘3 Idiots’ have been bought by Gemini Film Circuit, who have remade many hit movies in the past, including 'Vasool Raja', the remake of ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’. Watch out for this space, for more updates on Vijay’s next movie.

We all know the Telugu version of ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ by Karthi ‘Yuganiki Okkadu’, is doing well all over Andhra Pradesh and attempts are being made to dub Karthi’s first film ‘Paruthiveeran’ to Telugu to cash in on the actor’s growing popularity in the neighbouring state. And now, buzz is that Karthi himself would dub for his character in the Telugu version of ‘Paruthiveeran’ titled ‘Palnati Veerudu’. “The actor knows a little bit of Telugu and is now learning the nuances of the language to perfect it. Meanwhile, sources also say a couple of offers from ‘Telugu Desam’ for doing direct Telugu films have knocked at the doors of the actor. However, Karthi is not so keen to do Telugu films at this point of time. Karthi’s next in Tamil, ‘Paiyaa’ has been postponed for a March release. Going back to ‘Yuganiki Okkadu’, the film, according to reports, was released in 93 screens across Andhra and has grossed Rs 1.78 crore in its opening weekend (Feb 5 to 7), which is unusual for a dubbed f

Tanvi Shah is thrilled to talk about her association with A R Rahman that got her global recognition. She is one of the A R Rahman regulars of late. Tanvi Shah is the first Indian female singer to win a Grammy Award. Tanvi was a part of the song 'Jai ho' in Danny Boyle's ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ which took the world music community by storm in 2009 and 2010. The versatility of Tanvi goes beyond her voice. She can sing in Arabic, Latin, and Spanish and sings a wide range of music with her band, Zahrra. The lovely voice of Tanvi made Indian debut with a song ‘Yaakai Thiri’ in ‘Aayutha Ezhuthu’ for A R Rahman. After that her association with A R Rahman continued in ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Sillunu Oru Kadhal’, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Dilli 6’. Her success with A R Rahman hot her invitations from the other young happening music directors like Yuvan Shankar Raja, Srikanth Deva and Premji Amaran. Tanvi’s popular numbers in Tamil like “Pul Pesum Poo Pesum” from ‘Pudhupettai’, “Sill

Director and actor R. Parthiban has filed a case with the cyber crime cell of Tamil Nadu Police against a website alleging they illegally carried an electronic version of book of poems ‘Kirukkalgal’ without his permission. Parthiban stated that the website has stolen his intellectual property and no money can compensate it. He alleged the website carried his poems many months ago and he came to know of it only when a fan of him from a Gulf country called him to appreciate his work. However the concerned website denied doing anything illegal and claims all norms were followed to upload the book. They say Parthiban was paid and initial amount for the electronic version of the book and also agreed to pay a commission for downloads of the book. The case is on.

Remember Jayachitra who excelled in bubbly roles in the 70s? A spontaneous actress of her times Jayachitra later started doing character roles in Tamil and Telugu. In 1991 Jayachitra promoted herself to a producer and director. She produced and directed a film ‘Puthiya Ragam’ and also played the female lead opposite Raguman. The film disappeared without trace and she went into dormancy. Now Jayachitra has come out and announced her next film 'Nane Ennul Illai' which will introduce her son Amresh Ganesh as a hero. The new film is going to be an all out family affair. Jayachitra will produce and direct the film apart from writing the story, screenplay and dialogues for the film. The new hero who is a trained musician will also be the music director of the film apart from writing and singing a song. Vijaya T Rajendar sir better watch out. There is a tough competition brewing.

Guess who would tickle the funny bone of the audience in ‘Boss Engira Baskaran’? She is Nayantara, who is doing a comical role in the company of Arya and Santhanam for the film directed by Rajesh of ‘Siva Manasula Sakthi’ fame. If sources are to be believed, Nayantara, the heroine of the film, is playing a bubbly girl who has immense humour sense. “This is for the first time the actress is doing such a role. She would sure bring the roofs down with her performance,” they maintain. On the storyline, they say, “the movie is about Arya, who lives in a joint family. The attempts he make to woo Nayantara and the problems he face before joining hands with her is the crux. It is a feel-good film quite like ‘SMS’.” Plans are to complete the shoot by the end of February. “Rajesh, who firmly believes that post production works add solid strength to a movie, would take around two months for it. So you can expect ‘Boss Engira Baskaran’ by May or June,” sources add.

Nag Chaitanya's Ye Maaya Chesave is all set to hit the screens on February 26. Its audio, launched recently, is doing quite well. The film is directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and produced by Indira Productions' Sanjay Swarup. The producer promises that it is an amazing love story from Gautham. Announcing the release date, Mr. Swarup said that he feels more than happy for making a film in a combination like this. If Chaitanya is doing his second film here, it has technical brilliants like AR Rehman and Gautham lending music and direction respectively. Ye Maaya Chesave will see world-wide release on the 26th. Krishnudu plays Chaitanya's close buddy in the film. He said that it is a very meaningful role and has lot of scope for emotion and sentiment. Samantha is debuting on the big screen with this love story, where she plays a Malayalee Christian. Puri fans, watch out for this one, as the director is playing himself here. The film has lyrics by Ananth Sriram and d